Metro Detroit: Plymouth’s Post Local Bistro

Downtown Plymouth has become one of the hottest areas around for dining and nightlife and the Post Local Bistro is a popular location for good food and live entertainment. Located at 844 Penniman, The Post, which was formerly The Rock Bar & Grill, was opened by Jim and Jennifer Dales in 2013 and have been going strong ever since. The Dale’s were not new to the restaurant business, having owned a number of other Post Bar locations in Ferndale, Auburn Hills, Detroit and East Lansing until 2007. While those locations were primarily bars first and restaurants second, they vowed to make this location a destination for all ages and they started with the name, Post Local Bistro.

They wanted to be a family friendly establishment, where you could feel comfortable bringing your kids for dinner, yet still cater to the late night crowd by offering live entertainment and staying open until 2AM every night. The space looks small from the outside, but it is actually quite spacious on the inside. When you walk in the front there is a bar area immediately to the left, which looks like a typical “dive/sports bar” which seats 15 or so with a wall of TV’s running the length of the bar. The area also has some bistro tables for standing, while waiting for your table.

To the right is the front dining area which seats 50-60 and also has that rustic bar-ish feeling, but only because it is all your older original flooring and exposed brick walls.

TThey also have a back enclosed patio as well as an outdoor patio seating another 60-80 people.

As previously mentioned, this is not just a bar selling bar food. They call themselves a Bistro, but I would say they are “a bar offering upscale food”. A Bistro is typically a small quaint, casual restaurant with a simple menu. Their menu is not necessarily simple. It is quite expansive for what appears to be a bar, and it is not small, seating nearly 120+ people. The menu is broken down into Apps with selections like Michigan Perch Tacos and a Charcuterie Board. Soups and Salads featuring Roasted Corn & Turkey Chili, Clam Chowder and a Roasted Pear and Arugula Salad. Entrees where you will find things like Jambalaya and a Scottish Salmon. Sandwiches feature Bistro burgers (of course) chicken, a fried egg BLT and Grilled Patty Melt served with an Ice cold PBR. Sides with selections like mashed potatoes with scratch gravy and quinoa with kale and edamame. And lastly their Desserts with Sanders Bumpy Cake, NY Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis and Ice Cream Floats with Guernsey Ice cream and Faygo pop. Definitely not a bar menu.

Here are some of their appetizers.

Here are some of their salads.

Here are some of their entrees.

They have a lot of cool drinks on their drink menu:

Happy Hour, which is from 3-6 Monday through Friday, features

Discounted beers, anywhere form a $2 Hamm’s to a $5 Guinness or Bell’s Two Hearted.
$2 off any drink off their, already reasonably priced, Post Local Drink Menu
$6 red and white wines.
$1 chicken wings with Buffalo or Thai Chili sauce,
A $5 food menu with sliders, deviled eggs, chips and salsa, hot honey cheese bites and a smoked whitefish dip with sliced apples and crackers.

We went for the chips and salsa, smoked whitefish dip and the chicken wings Buffalo style. Our friends had the Roasted Pear and arugula salad with chicken and the bistro burger with cheese and homemade kettle chips.

We started with the one of their specialty cocktails called a Tito’s Splash, made with Tito’s vodka and fresh blackberries and seasonal Apple Old Fashioned. We were concerned that they would both be too sweet, but were pleasantly surprised at how well balanced and delicious they were with just the right amount of sweet.

The wings were crispy, very meaty and the sauce was perfect (and you can call us wing snobs) with just the right amount of spice, not too hot or over powering. The chips and salsa were OK, we weren’t a fan of the salsa but the chips were really good.

The star of the show was the Smoked Whitefish Dip. You typically don’t see something like this on everyday “bar” menus . . . and for $5 it was worth it! It wasn’t a huge portion, but it was enough to share, along with the other items ordered. It is a must the next time we are there for happy hour.